Zutara Week 2012 Day One Serendipity
by troublesofthebrain
Summary: Darkness is drawn to silence, fire to darkness, water to fire. Katara tries to settle her fears about bloodbending only to find more terror from the overwhelming power of it. Instead, she finds Zuko, more than happy to comfort her. Set on the evening of The Ember Island Players.


_Serendipity _

_**Darkness is drawn to silence.**_

And how silent it was in that house, how the rooms were far too big and far too spacious to feel anything like home. The darkness seemed to thrive in the quiet, staunching the corners of the rooms with ugly black nothingness that threatened to seep into her heart as soon as she blew the pretty red candles out.

She combed the sea salt from her hair with a Southern Water Tribe brush. She was struck with an unwanted memory at the sight of it- the memory was sepia and almost faded now, chipped at the edges and scratched like an old painting. She had wanted to shut the memory away in some mental bottom drawer, but the memory of Hama was too strong to ever really ignore.

_Ironic,_ she thought, _it's a full moon tonight._

Katara put the comb back into her bag and stood away from the dressing table, not bothering to braid her hair or even put it up. She felt the wooden planks underneath her feet settle restlessly, Zuko's old family house certainly was creaky, and she didn't feel like facing Toph's wrath if she woke her. _At least someone got rest._

She expected to feel cool air nip at her bare arms and legs when she stood outside, but only felt the stifling warmth of the Fire Nation settle on her skin. The night was warm and humid, but the moon was slung low in the sky and Katara could almost feel it inside of her. The power seethed through her veins and she couldn't help but be slightly terrified of it, _nobody knows the power I have, what I'm capable of. _

Katara soon began to feel hot sand swallowing her feet, but she didn't take her eyes off the moon. She was in a trance, as the moon pulls in a tide, it was pulling her in. There was no more but the sound of the waves crashing gently upon the sand. Water began tickling her toes. She sat. She heard that old woman's voice trickling on, she saw a dark figure pressed against a woodland clearing, she heard the utter, almost as if out of context, _bloodbending_.

"Hey," a voice made her jump. She turned to see Zuko striding toward her, his tread silent and his eyes glinting in the dim light of the moon. She looked back out to the ocean.

_**Fire is drawn to darkness. **_

"You can't sleep," it wasn't a question. The events of the evening had left Katara irritated to say the least. The play that the Ember Island Players had put together was humiliating. Then again, what could she expect? It wasn't like the Fire Nation were going to tell a tale of heroic teenagers who put aside their own desires and suffered and fought in order to get freedom.

"Not really. I keep seeing myself in that play," he smirked. His voice was jovial, but when Katara looked at him she saw something heavy and fraught in his eyes- his words bore more meaning than just watching an angry guy on stage.

"Hmf, I think he got you pretty good." Katara said, not quite wanting to intrude on his feelings.

"_You don't have to mock me!" _Zuko said, imitating the actor's ridiculous way of speaking. She let out a small squeak of laughter she wasn't expecting to come. Cupping her hands over her mouth, she looked at him, her chest feeling warm with something she wasn't sure of. Did she feel safe when he was there? It wouldn't make much sense, seeing as she was completely in control of anyone during the full moon if she wanted to be-

And that was it. The stem of her fear.

She glanced at her feet, watching the water swell around them.

"Are you okay?" Zuko asked awkwardly, stiffening a little. Katara would have smiled at his shyness, had she not been so immobilised by fear. She shook her head, suddenly feeling hot remorse tingle in her throat. "What's wrong?"

"I-" Katara swallowed, unsure of how to put her sentence. _I'm scared of this crazy power I have because it's too strong and nobody but the Avatar should have that sort of power but I have it and what's worse is I know what it is and I hate that I used it on that man on the boat because I told myself I would never use it but I did. _"It's complicated."

Zuko made a snuff, which sounded like a bit of a laugh, and Katara immediately felt stung. She whipped her head around to glare at him and found a set of golden eyes piercing into her own. She let out a gush of air she didn't know she was holding and breathed in. She could smell him from where he was- the smell of earth and smoke and something spicy like amber.

"I get it. If you say it's complicated then it probably really is. But you can trust me, I- I guess I'm a good listener," Zuko said, offering Katara a sort of lopsided smile. She wanted to mock him, _good listener? You couldn't listen to someone's problems if they walked right up to you and slapped you in the face. _

She smiled at him wanly. He gave her one last, long look, nodded, as if to himself, and then stood up to leave. Despite her and Zuko not really having a conversation, she did feel a bit relieved. Like some of the weight of her fear had gone- and she felt elated by that. She wondered if… "Zuko, wait."

The firebender stopped instantly and turned to face her. She felt her palms begin to sweat as she stood, things felt too hot- like someone had put the sun where the moon should be. She walked over to him, sure that her face was betraying her with coloured cheeks and shining eyes.

Katara sucked in air and looked at her feet, they were very close to Zuko's- she was very close to him, a little _too _close for comfort, so she moved back a few inches and suddenly felt very cold.

"Are you cold?" He asked, as if reading her mind. She shook her head, ignoring the goose bumps rising on her arms. If she didn't say what she needed to now, then she never would. Lifting her gaze to his once more, she saw his eyes, pure and good and consuming her. Drawing her in, his eyes were as sharp as the edge of a knife's blade, but they softened under her regard. She had expected to walk into the night and find terror, but instead, she found him. She found solace in Zuko's stoic ways and caring disposition.

She pushed herself up on her toes and kissed him on the corner of his mouth. "Thank you."

_**Water is drawn to fire. **_


End file.
